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Tamai

by Margaret Ball

Unable to bear the child that will cure her of her magic powers, Tamai must leave her people and serve them in the outer world by convincing the British to defend them from the encroaching Russians. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Margaret Ball lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and near two grown children. She has a B.A. in mathematics and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Texas. After graduation, she taught briefly at UCLA, then spent several years honing her science fiction and fantasy writing skills by designing computer software and making inflated promises about its capabilities. She has written a number of science fiction/fantasy novels as well as two historical novels, and is currently working on a science fiction series to be released on Kindle and in paperback in the fall of 2017. She would love to be influenced by Connie Willis and the other authors listed but fears that is mainly wishful thinking.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if this book was better than book 1 (which I don't think I even finished; why did I read the sequel?) or if I'm more patient. This book did lack the hysterical obsession with child-bearing of the protagonist in the first book (I think I in fact dropped it at the point at which she is literally screaming about how women without children are worthless) but was still overly gendered for my taste.

I also didn't especially care about any of the characters, although I did appreciate that Ball resisted the temptation to give them more acceptable modern values and tried to envision points of view that would have been in line with the cultures they are supposed to come from.

The ending I found extremely disappointing. I can't fathom why the author decided to magically change time so that everything that had happened up to this point was undone and altered when she had any number of other options. I'm tempted to take off a star for that ending.

Not awful, but I doubt I'll read more Ball.

[Deirdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the land of the Hindu Kush there's a land where women rule, and bear magic. It's a land straight out of Rudyard Kipling with a Britain trying to help defend from encroaching Russians. The Briton doesn't believe in magic and don't believe women can have power but she's determined to prove them wrong.

It's an interesting homage to Kipling and a fun story of culture clash and magical workings.

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as the first one. The ending has a bit of a deus ex machina feel to it, but I enjoyed getting there, and it was much more satisfying than a sort of similar ending to another series the Tearling books by Erika Johansen that I read not too long ago.

[Retta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Britain's colonial mysogeny meets more than capable women.